Bombshell: Olympia Snowe to retire

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Just across at CNN. No details yet, but Fox reporter Trish Turner is tweeting bits of what she claims is Snowe’s statement. Quote:

“I have no doubt I would have won re-election”

“I do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions.”

“…what I have had to consider is how productive an additional term would be. Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term. So at this stage of my tenure in public service, I have concluded that I am not prepared to commit myself to an additional six years in the Senate, which is what a fourth term would entail.”

“I see a vital need for the political center in order for our democracy to flourish and to find solutions that unite rather than divide us. It is time for change in the way we govern”

Don’t get too excited to see a RINO go. Nate Silver tweets, “We had estimated GOP’s chances of holding Maine senate at 85% before. Maybe 20-30% now after Snowe retirement.” Taking back the Senate just got a lot harder. Stand by for updates.

Update: In case you’re tempted to think she quit to deny tea partiers the pleasure of tossing her out, Roll Call had the seat rated “safe Republican” and a PPP poll taken in November had her favorable rating among GOP primary voters at 51/37, up from 47/44 last March. Losing her is like losing Scott Brown, but like Brown, Snowe was a no vote on ObamaCare. If this seat turns blue, repeal just became less likely.

Update: For an early inkling of Snowe’s disgruntlement, go back and read this post from September 2010 about her lamenting “ideological purity” after the defeat of Mike Castle in Delaware. I wondered at the time whether she might bypass the primary altogether by going independent and forming some sort of new Senate indie caucus with Lieberman, Scott Brown, Collins, Murkowski, Ben Nelson, etc. That could have been the nucleus for greater centrist influence in Congress, and maybe even the germ of a third-party movement. Instead, she’ll likely end up being replaced by an orthodox Democrat. Oh well.

Update: So perfectly does her statement coincide with David Brooks’s column this morning, I have to wonder if they weren’t coordinated. Says Brooksy, first they came for the RINOs…

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Could David Brooks be any more of a Demohack?

This statement alone is enough to call into question his objectivity as an outsider looking in on GOP matters:

But, of course, this is exactly what has been happening in the Republican Party for the past half century. Over these decades, one pattern has been constant: Wingers fight to take over the party, mainstream Republicans bob and weave to keep their seats.

Really? Because we could do this and it would be just as true:

But, of course, this is exactly what has been happening in the Democratic Party for the past half century. Over these decades, one pattern has been constant: Leftists fight to take over the party, mainstream Democrats bob and weave to keep their seats.

When a commentator fails to recognize the hypocrisy / outright intellectual dishonesty of their own statements I just can’t take them seriously enough to care about what they say.

One could wonder if this was a ploy for the Dems to retain control of the Senate. That is, pay off Snowe with an important posting at a liberal think-tank(an oxymoron, I know), or some liberal owned company. But then, it would almost seem easier for Snowe to take the switch to the Democratic party than that. It is an interesting move for someone who most likely has quite a few years left in her.